Leighton Meester is setting the record straight for the first time about her reported sex tape, claiming it doesn't exist.

"[The tape] is not real," the Gossip Girl star says in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar. "So it makes me sort of sad. It's unfortunate that it got carried as far as it did."

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In June, TMZ.com claimed a company was shopping around an X-rated video shot a few years ago that featured the actress engaged in nude acts with an unidentified partner.

Meester, 23, says she learned a lot about the pitfalls of fame from the experience, saying, "I don't want a lot of what comes along with all of this.

See photos of celeb scandals.

"I definitely understand the nature of people better now and that the mere allegation of something like that could be headline news," she went on. "People think it's real because somebody says it is."

To stay out of the spotlight, Meester — who is currently dating Gossip guest star Sebastian Stan — surrounds herself with just close pals.

"I'm doing everything I can to keep things separate," she says. "I feel like my friends are in a cult because we're like, 'No outsiders!'"

Meester says she's nothing like her manipulative character Blair in real life. "I've never been crazy. I'm a very good girl, to be honest," she says. "I don't do anything to hurt anybody. Honestly, all I ever do is work."

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(One similarity: her close relationship with on-again, off-again TV beau Ed Westwick, who recalls his first meeting with her. "The first thing I thought when I met Leighton was, 'This girl's gorgeous.' And she was incredibly sweet. Now we tell each other to f— off whenever we want to," he tells the mag.)

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Meester also opens up about Botox.

"Any fear of aging, I think, is simply vanity because what comes with age is so many wonderful things: wisdom, understanding. Every year, I'm always happy to be done with the previous age," she says. "If people want [to get Botox], do it."

Can you guess which stars have had Botox?

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